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GS1 Digital Links

A GS1 Digital Link is a product’s barcode written as a web address. Instead of a number a scanner has to look up, the code on the pack is a URL carrying the GTIN — so a phone opens the product page and a checkout still reads the identity underneath.

https://go.acme.com/01/09506000134352/10/LOT01
                    └ GTIN ────────┘  └ batch ┘

The path is the GS1 syntax: 01 is the GTIN, 10 a batch, 21 a serial, 22 a consumer product variant. Because the identity is in the URL, the code is derived rather than invented — the same GTIN and batch always address the same Digital Link, which is what makes re-importing safe.

Sunrise 2027 — what it actually is

Section titled “Sunrise 2027 — what it actually is”

Retailers are moving towards checkouts that can scan 2D barcodes alongside the EAN-13 we’ve all used for fifty years. GS1 calls the transition Sunrise 2027, and GS1 UK targets October 2027 for UK readiness.

It’s an industry shift, not a legal deadline — nobody switches off EAN-13, and nothing is enforced on a date. What it means in practice is that the 2D code you put on a pack now has somewhere useful to be read.

Redirector or resolver

Section titled “Redirector or resolver”

Redirector — one destination per code. The scan lands on your product page. This is the fast path and covers most catalogues.

Resolver — a linkset: several destinations per code, one per GS1 link type, and the scanner asks for the one it wants. A consumer phone gets the product page (gs1:pip); a different context can be pointed at instructions, safety data, recall status or a certificate. Resolver also unlocks data attributes (extra AIs like expiry) on the record.

Redirector is included with GS1; the full linkset and data attributes are part of Resolver.

Creating them

Section titled “Creating them”

GS1 Digital Links → New. Enter the GTIN — the check digit is validated as you type — plus batch or serial if the code identifies something more specific than the product. Add the destination, or in resolver mode a destination per link type.

For a catalogue, GS1 Bulk Import takes a CSV or XLSX: a column per field, a tags column, and one column per link type in resolver mode. Download the template from the import page — it ships with a README and two example rows. The same import is available over the API, which is the better route if your PIM already holds the data.

Tags

Section titled “Tags”

Tag records with anything that helps you find them later — a campaign, a brand, an SKU family, a season. Tags filter the Digital Links list, and they’re how you scope a print export to exactly the codes you want.

Up to 20 tags per record, 32 characters each. They’re your labels, not GS1 Application Identifiers — the AIs live in the code itself.

Re-pointing

Section titled “Re-pointing”

The point of a Digital Link is that the pack is printed once and the destination isn’t. Change where a code goes and every printed pack follows instantly — a seasonal page after launch, a recall notice when it matters, the product page again afterwards. The GTIN never changes; the URL never changes; only the destination does.

Where next

Section titled “Where next”